Five charts to summarize the financial week: KVol, electric shocks and ROI-Crude shrug
Open Interest (ROI), every Friday, distills the previous five days' financial activity into five charts that highlight the "major trends" and "surprises", as well as the "overlooked moves" and the "surprises".
1. CRUDE SHRUGS RON BOUSSO ROI - Energy Columnist: Oil Prices jumped this past week following the latest and most serious flare-ups in the Middle East, after Iranian forces 'hit' tankers crossing Strait of Hormuz. This prompted a tit-fortat exchange with the U.S. Crude prices are still well below $80 per barrel, which indicates that traders do not believe the interim peace agreement between the U.S.A. and Iran has been "over." Even if the latest Middle East tensions subside soon, the stop-start movement of tankers in the Strait of Hormuz is still a nightmare for Gulf countries desperate to get back to normality after a brutal multi-month conflict.
2. KOSPI VOLUTILITY ANNA SCHYMANSKI: South Korea's leading stock index, one of the stars of 2026, has been incredibly volatile this week. It fell more than 5% Wednesday and briefly entered technical bear-market after a 20% drop from its record-breaking close on June 22, before gaining on Thursday and on Friday. Does this mean that investors are worried about the AI trade, or the Korean firms at its core? Not necessarily. Samsung, one of the KOSPI's main constituents, reported a 19-fold increase in its second-quarter profits on Tuesday. Investors may be apprehensive about the sustainability of the AI chip boom. But we could also be witnessing profit-taking and rotation. Market-watchers might need to accept that there will be massive short-term movements in a world where technology is rapidly evolving, geopolitical turmoil is common, and momentum trading is widespread.
3. RUSSIA'S FUEL - CRISIS MIKE DOLAN ROI Finance & Markets columnist: Russia is still one of the largest energy producers in the world despite the Western sanctions imposed after the full-scale invasion by the country of Ukraine 2022. The news that Russians were now running out of fuel was shocking. The Ukrainian drone attacks against Russia's energy grid have resulted in rationing and rising prices, as well as growing discontent among the public. Now, Russia is forced to import fuel from India or Kazakhstan. This led Moscow to announce Wednesday that it would ban exports of Diesel as part of efforts to support its domestic fuel market. This decision may have wide-ranging effects on the energy markets, as Russia is a major player in diesel.
4. PARTING COMPANY, ANNA SZYMANSKI: In recent months, short-dated U.S. bonds yields were elevated even though oil prices dropped. This could indicate that the markets are predicting that inflation in 'the U.S. will remain high, even if oil prices return to their levels before the U.S. - Iran war. Core PCE (which excludes food and energy) rose by a whopping 3% year-on-year during May, far above the Fed's target of 2%. The minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting from June, released on Tuesday, show that the Fed's inflation concerns extend beyond fuel costs to include other areas such as the impact of "booming AI investments" on the U.S. economic system.
5. ELECTRIC SHOCKS GAVIN MAGUIRE ROI Global Energy Transformation Columnist: The legislation signed by U.S. president Trump and which went into effect on the 4th of July accelerates the phase out of federal tax credit for wind and solar project, marking a dramatic reversal to the incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act. It is expected that this will'result in an increase in electricity prices and a decrease in new energy production. Residential electricity prices - the highest of all major U.S. consumers - have already risen by more than 40% since 2020. Prices for commercial and industrial customers have also risen by over a third in that time. Opinions are the sole responsibility of their authors. These opinions do not represent the views of News. News is committed to the Trust Principles and integrity, independence, as well as freedom from bias.
(source: Reuters)
